


Morning, Stranger

by maeung



Series: The Morning Commute [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - After College/University, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Lawyers, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun is Whipped, M/M, dojae has some issues, doyoung has a tattoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 09:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17557859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maeung/pseuds/maeung
Summary: In which Doyoung sits next to a handsome stranger on the bus everyday but he can't find the courage to introduce himself.





	Morning, Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written for Dojae/Jaedo week!

Every morning Doyoung scrambles through his apartment like a tornado of chaos, frantically trying to gather everything he needs for work, cursing his love of ignoring his alarm. Every morning Doyoung vows to wake up early the next day, and every morning he ignores that promise. Before he leaves however, he stops in the mirror next to his door to style his hair into it’s signature style, pushing his bangs off of his forehead.

He bursts out of his apartment building at exactly 8:32 AM and makes a mad dash to the bus stop, barely stepping onto the bus right before the doors close. The bus is always packed with morning commuters, but there’s a vacant spot that Doyoung counts on to be empty. His trust is rewarded when he finally sits down on the old grimy bus seat, panting lightly.

“Morning, stranger. Wake up late again?” a pleasantly deep voice asks from next to him. Doyoung nods in response. The voice laughs and Doyoung turns to look at his seatmate. He’s objectively attractive, with one of those classically handsome faces and warm brown hair. The morning light shines through the dirty bus window, making the stranger look like he has a halo of light around him. The stranger looks at the top of Doyoung’s head. “I like your hair.”

“Thanks.” Doyoung mumbles. He turns forward, his hand tapping nervously against his thigh. They sit in silence before the stranger stands up, getting up and leaving the bus. Doyoung smiles weakly at him when he turns around, and then the stranger is gone.

 

 

Doyoung was in college, a struggling law major who was also currently struggling with another problem. He panted on the stairs and leaned against the wall to give himself a break while the giant cardboard box filled with his things sat on the steps, almost mockingly.

“Do you need some help?” Doyoung turned around to see a very tall man looking at him with some concern.

“No,” pant “I’m fine.”

“It’s no trouble at all,” the man said hesitantly. Doyoung looked at him, and then thought about the three other boxes he still had to bring upstairs.

“Uh, sure I guess. That’d be great.”

The man beamed. “My name’s Johnny Seo, by the way.”

Doyoung looked at him, “I’m moving into a new dorm with a guy called Johnny Seo.”

Johnny laughed wholeheartedly. “Really? What a coincidence. You must be Kim Doyoung.”

“That’s me,” Doyoung grinned and held out his hand.

“Hey sweet tattoo bro.” Johnny said. Doyoung grinned and looked down at the grey sparrow on the back of his hand. Its wings were splayed out, touching the top of his knuckles.

“Thanks. Cool necklace.” Doyoung pointed at a leather cord with an old gold coin as a pendant.

“Thanks.”

While Doyoung and Johnny lugged Doyoung’s stuff up the stairs, he learns two things. One, Johnny is also a law major. Two, they’re going to become great friends.

 

 

Doyoung scrolls through his phone while he waits for the bus. For once in his life, he had woken up early and now he was treating himself by staying updated on his friend’s lives on Instagram. He likes a picture of Johnny and Taeil’s fifth engagement post, smiling when he remembered how Johnny had cried on the phone to Doyoung after he had finally proposed to Taeil. The bus rumbles to a stop in front of him and Doyoung pockets his phone, walking over to his usual spot.

“Morning, stranger.” Doyoung nods in return. The stranger isn’t feeling very chatty today, and Doyoung can see in his peripheral how the stranger’s brows are furrowed as he looks through a pile of paperwork. The stranger leaves the bus at his stop, muttering something about needing coffee.

 

 

Doyoung looked at Johnny in shock. “You’re friends with _Jung Jaehyun_?”

His roommate laughed awkwardly, “yeah? We’ve been friends since high school.”

“Oh my god you’re friends with a celebrity.” Doyoung whispered.

Johnny laughed, “he’s not a celebrity, he’s a student just like the rest of us.”

“He’s the most popular law student on campus, but no one has ever gotten close to him. I heard that one time he hooked up with someone at a party but when they came up to him the next day he didn’t even remember them.”

Johnny rolled his eyes, “don’t believe everything you hear. He’s a nice guy, kind of forgetful, but he’s not unapproachable.”

Doyoung paused, “can you introduce him to me?”

“Sure,” Johnny said, amused, “I’ll let you meet your idol.” Doyoung threw a pillow at him.

 

 

“Morning, stranger,” the stranger mutters, looking through the same pile of papers he has been for the last few days.

Doyoung’s wearing a face mask today, his throat scratchy and his voice rough. “Tough day at work?” he asks weakly.

“Yeah,” the stranger sighs, closing the file. “I have a big case up soon.” Doyoung nods in understanding.

“You’ll do great.” Doyoung says. The stranger looks at him before a smile breaks out onto his face.

“Thanks!” He says. That day when the stranger leaves, he turns and waves at Doyoung. Doyoung returns it.

 

 

Doyoung burst into his dorm room, throwing his books onto the table before walking over to the mini-fridge, grabbing a beer, and chugging the entire bottle in one go.

“Woah Doyoung what the fuck-”

Doyoung wiped his mouth, setting down the beer, “fuck Professor Lee, that bitch gave me an 85 on my paper when we both know damn well that I deserved a 93 at least. He just hates me because I destroyed his deposition last week.”

“Oh I remember that, it was really good!” Doyoung whirled around to see the newcomer in his room. His eyes widened and he glared back at Johnny who wore a shit-eating grin.

“Fuck you.” Doyoung hissed.

Jaehyun looked at the two, confused. “My name is Jung Jaehyun,” he extended his hand.

Doyoung smiled awkwardly and shook his hand, “Kim Doyoung.”

“That tattoo is so cool!” Jaehyun said, grabbing onto Doyoung’s hand and tracing the lines of the tattoo with his fingers. Doyoung’s cheeks turned pink and Johnny snickered like the asshole he was.

“Thanks.” Doyoung mumbled and Jaehyun looked up before realizing what he was doing and dropped Doyoung’s hand.

“Sorry,” Jaehyun said sheepishly, his eyes darting over Doyoung’s face. Doyoung shuffled uncomfortably, feeling Jaehyun’s eyes piercing over his face, almost trying to memorize his features.

Johnny raised his eyebrow, unimpressed. “Let’s go grab something to eat.”

“Alright,” Jaehyun said, and turned to smile at Doyoung, “you coming?”

“Sure.” Doyoung said, his disappointing paper forgotten.

At the end of the night, there was a paper slip lying at the bottom of Doyoung’s pocket, burning a hole into his ratty old sweatshirt. He took it out once they were back in the dorm room, looking at the name ‘Jung Jaehyun’ and seven numbers scrawled onto the back of a receipt staring back at him.

“He thinks you’re cute,” Johnny commented.

“Shut up.”

Doyoung texted Jaehyun that night.

 

 

Doyoung wordlessly waves at the stranger’s “Morning stranger.” as he holds up his phone to his ear.

“Okay Taeyong, I understand. See you at work.” Doyoung says and hangs up.

“Nice day, huh?” the stranger says. Doyoung looks outside at the grimy streets of the city and nods in agreement.

“Yeah, if you like trash and cigarette smoke.” The stranger laughs out loud in the quiet bus and looks at Doyoung for a while. “What?” Doyoung asks.

“Nothing. You just remind me of someone I used to know.”

Doyoung nods and faces forward.

 

 

Doyoung panicked before his first date with Jaehyun. “Just fucking help me Johnny.”

Johnny looked up from where he was probably sexting his latest fling, this time an english major named Taeil or something. “Jaehyun doesn’t really care how you’re dressed, he’ll think you’re cute no matter what.”

Doyoung rolled his eyes, “what about this?” He pulled on an oversized purple sweater that gave him sweater paws and dipped down near his collarbone, an area that he’s seen Jaehyun eyeing before in class.

Johnny looked up before he stood up and walked over to Doyoung. He pulled up the sleeve of his sweater so it fell at his wrist instead of the tips of his fingers, revealing his sparrow tattoo, “now it’s perfect.”

“Okay?” Doyoung asked, lifting up his hand and examining the delicate bird.

“Jaehyun just, uh, really likes your tattoo.” Johnny shrugged.

Doyoung wriggled his eyebrows, “oh does he like bad boys?”

Johnny laughed, “something like that.”

If when Jaehyun knocked on their dorm room door to pick up Doyoung he spent 15 seconds just staring at Doyoung’s face before looking appreciatively at his outfit (especially the dip near his collarbone), Doyoung didn’t say anything.

If during the date Jaehyun let it slip that he was really looking forward to their next one, Doyoung didn’t say anything.

If at the end they held hands on the way back and Doyoung felt warmer than he ever had before, Doyoung didn’t say anything.

And if Jaehyun kissed him at the end of the night, Doyoung didn’t say anything.

 

 

Doyoung just barely makes it onto the bus that day, and he curses himself for never learning from his past mistakes. “Morning, stranger!” the stranger laughs while Doyoung tries to catch his breath.

“Fuck mornings,” Doyoung says quietly, but the stranger hears anyways. He beams at Doyoung.

“I’m a morning person.”

“I know,” Doyoung says and rolls his eyes.

“Yeah it’s probably pretty noticeable,” the stranger continues, “I’m always the most cheerful person on this bus.” When the stranger leaves that day he gives Doyoung a small piece of orange candy. “Hope it brightens up your day!”

“Thanks,” Doyoung says and pockets the treat.

 

 

It’s been three months since Jaehyun and him had started dating, and he couldn’t be happier. While Johnny moped because his habit of fucking and dumping had finally caught up to him with his last fling, Doyoung went out on date after date with Jaehyun, falling more-and-more out of ‘like’ and more into the scarier ‘love’ with him everyday. Today they were at Jaehyun’s small dorm room, enjoying a meal Jaehyun liked to call ‘I don’t know how to cook but I tried and ruined it so I ordered jajangmyeon.’ Jaehyun’s roommate Mark had long since been picked up by a friend, one who upon seeing Doyoung, whooped loudly and winked at Jaehyun before his tall frame was shoved into the hallway by Mark.

“Doyoung,” Jaehyun said, setting down his chopsticks, “I need to tell you something.”

“Yeah Jae?” Doyoung asked, slurping up a noodle and getting sauce on his chin, “what’s up?”

Jaehyun laughed and wiped off the sauce with a napkin. He picked up Doyoung’s hand from where it lay and traced over the lines of his sparrow tattoo. “I don’t really know how to start this.”

“You can tell me anything,” Doyoung said, sensing the serious nature of the conversation.

“I have this—thing,” Jaehyun wrung his hands through his hair, “it’s called prosopagnosia.”

“Prosopag-what?” Doyoung laughed, “you know that I refused to be a med student, what the hell is that?”

Jaehyun smiled, “I don’t blame you, not a lot of people know about it. It’s not very serious, actually.” Jaehyun said. “Prosopagnosia is a memory disorder. I’m not good with faces,” he laughed bitterly.

“What do you mean?”

“Like how some people are better at remembering names and some people are better at remembering faces? It’s really really hard for me to remember a face,” Jaehyun continued, “it’s like I meet someone, and they walk away, and then if I see them again I can’t recognize them. But it’s just faces, like I can remember someone by the watch they wear, or the way they do their hair. And-” Jaehyun took a deep breath, “it happens with everyone, even if I’ve known them for years.”

Doyoung looked down at his hand, “oh.”

Jaehyun’s grip fell slack around Doyoung’s palm, allowing him to slip away if he wanted to. “I understand if you’re hurt.”

“I-I think I need time to think.” Doyoung stood up, his fingers slipping from Jaehyun’s grasp. He put on his coat in silence before turning to look at Jaehyun who was staring at the floor. He tugged Jaehyun’s chin up, staring into his eyes, his heart panging when he saw drops of tears forming at the corners. Jaehyun stared back, his eyes boring into Doyoung’s face like they always did, tracing over every feature like he was trying his hardest to memorize it. “In a way,” Doyoung thought wryly, “he is.” Doyoung leaned down at kissed Jaehyun gently, before pulling back. He smiled softly at the way Jaehyun’s head bobbed forward to chase him. “Let me just think, Jae,” he said quietly, “I’ll talk to you later.”

 

 

“Morning, stranger,” the stranger says. Doyoung smiles in return. “Someone’s in a good mood today,” the stranger muses.

“I got a promotion.” Doyoung says.

“Congratulations!” the stranger lifts up a hand for a high-five, and Doyoung returns the gesture. “Woah, that’s such a cool tattoo.”

Doyoung pulls his hand away, “thanks.” When the stranger leaves that day, all Doyoung can offer is a weak smile while he stares down at the swirls of grey flowers covering his hand.

 

 

Doyoung went back to Jaehyun a week after Jaehyun had told him. He had been moping in his dorm room until Johnny couldn’t handle it anymore, snapping and sitting Doyoung down for a talk. “I’ve known Jaehyun for years,” Johnny had said, “and I don’t get offended when he has to look at my necklace first before he says hi to me.”

“But it’s different,” Doyoung had whined.

“No it’s not. Listen, Jaehyun likes you more than anyone I’ve ever seen him be in a relationship with. Before you came along, he had almost completely given up on the idea of love, but now I get to see him completely, pathetically, in love with you every day. And I know you feel the exact same. He can’t help his prosopagnosia. He loves you for your personality, for your connection, and everything else about you. It shouldn’t matter whether or not he can recall the fucking shape of your nose bridge.” Johnny had glared at him until he stood up, “now go and tell Jaehyun you love him right now.” Doyoung pulled on his coat and opened his door, about to step out before he paused and turned around.

“I’ll go tell Jaehyun if you promise me one thing.”

“What is it?”

“If Jaehyun and I get back together, you’ll ask Taeil out. For real.”

Later that night, Doyoung sent Johnny a picture of him and Jaehyun cuddling on Jaehyun’s bed.

 

 

“Morning stranger,” the stranger hums. He’s quieter than usual, and spends most of the morning staring out of the window. Right as the stranger stands up to leave, Doyoung tugs on his sleeve. When he looks down, Doyoung places a small green candy in his hand.

“You looked like you needed this.” The stranger grins, unwraps the candy and pops it into his mouth.

“Thanks!”

 

 

Jaehyun and Doyoung moved in together over the summer. They both had to stay in the city that year, interning for different law firms. It was convenient, but also amazing. Doyoung underestimated how great it felt to come home to someone he loved, and how great it felt to not have to deal with Johnny and Taeil sexiling him.

“Our nine month anniversary is coming up,” Jaehyun said while they were on the couch, watching Netflix, “what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know,” Doyoung turned to look at Jaehyun, “we could honestly just stay in.”

“And do what?” Jaehyun asked, and smirked like a college frat boy. Doyoung rolled his eyes, punching Jaehyun’s arm.

“Shut up,” he mumbled. Comfortable silence enveloped them and Jaehyun’s eyes glanced over Doyoung’s face. “What do you see?”

“What do you mean?” Jaehyun asked.

“Like because of your prosopagnosia. What do you see?”

“Your eyes are brown, they’re so big and innocent looking, but at the same time angled and they have this spark in them so anyone can tell that you’re the smartest person in the room. Your nose is elegant and cute, you have high cheekbones like a celebrity, and your lips are perfect,” Jaehyun paused to peck him, “but your teeth also make you look like a rabbit.”

Doyoung scoffed and pushed him away but Jaehyun tugged Doyoung even closer. “It’s like I can describe all of the things that make you gorgeous, but then they completely leave my mind when I blink. When I look at you, I’m trying to absorb every single feature on your face. It hurts me to look away because I know I’m just going to forget the way the most beautiful man in the world looks. But then it’s like everytime I see you again, I’m seeing you for the first time, and I fall in love with you over and over again,” Jaehyun whispered, “everytime I look at you I realize how breathtaking you are, and I’m just reminded that I’m the luckiest person in the world.”

Doyoung stared at Jaehyun in shock, “Jae,”

“Yeah-” Doyoung cut Jaehyun off and pushed him back into the couch, his head dipping down frantically.

 

 

“Morning stranger.” Doyoung waves back, sitting down next to the stranger. “Today’s going to be weird.”

“Why?” Doyoung asks, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“Remember that big case? It’s today,” the stranger says, tapping his leg. Now that Doyoung thinks about it, the stranger really does look more dressed up today then usual.

“Good luck,” Doyoung says.

“Thanks, I’ll need it,” the stranger says, and looks down at his phone. Out of curiosity he looks down too and falls silent. When the stranger gets off the bus that day, Doyoung can’t stop thinking about the picture he saw, an elegant grey sparrow.

 

 

“Yeah so I thought the guy was Doyoung and I danced with him for like 15 minutes!” Jaehyun said and the table burst out in laughter. They had invited Johnny and Taeil over for dinner and the entire night had been filled with dumb stories and jokes.

“Wait so just because he happened to have the same tattoo-”

“Yep,” Jaehyun nodded, “I only realized when the guy finally said something and I was like ‘Oh shit that’s not Doyoung’s voice,’ so I immediately disappeared.” Doyoung picked at his food while Johnny and Taeil laughed again. Later that night, when they left, he was cleaning dishes and jumped when a pair of arms wrapped around his waist.

“Fuck!” Doyoung yelped and the plate he was holding clattered against the edge of the sink. “Don’t scare me like that.”

“But it’s fun,” Jaehyun hummed against Doyoung’s neck. Doyoung sighed, leaning back into his embrace.

“You know, you didn’t have to tell them that story,” Doyoung mumbled and Jaehyun’s lips withdrew.

“What? The story about that guy from the club?” Jaehyun asked. Doyoung turned around and looked at him.

“It’s embarrassing.”

“How?” Jaehyun asked, his brows furrowing, “it’s just a funny story.”

“I don’t know,” Doyoung said, “it just is.”

“Doyoung, I literally can’t help the way I am, I already told you I was sorry that night-”

“It’s just embarrassing that you can’t even recognize me sometimes. I feel like-”

“What do you feel like?” Jaehyun pushed, straightening up and folding his arms.

“I feel like if you just saw me walking around I’d just be another faceless person in the crowd.”

Jaehyun’s face fell, “okay.” He said quietly.

“Okay? Just okay?” Doyoung asked.

“I don’t know Doyoung, I just don’t know.”

“Don’t know what?”

“I don’t know if you’d be wrong.”

 

 

There is no “morning, stranger,” when Doyoung gets on the bus that day, and there are two vacant seats. Doyoung sits somewhere else, and ignores the feeling of dread settling into his stomach.

 

 

Doyoung stared at Jaehyun, who was walking around their room, making sure he wasn’t missing anything. They had long since graduated law school, and moved out of their cramped apartment into a nice one closer to downtown. “How long will you be gone?”

“Just a few weeks.” Jaehyun said, he sighed and leaned over to kiss Doyoung on the forehead. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“I know,” Doyoung said, and helped Jaehyun take his suitcase to the front door, “I just wish it wasn’t so long.”

“Goodbye Doyoung,” Jaehyun said, and kissed him, long and slow. They broke apart and just looked at each other for a few moments, and then Jaehyun picked up his suitcase and was gone.

He’d been taking a lot of business trips lately.

 

 

“Morning, stranger,” Doyoung smiles at the familiar greeting and notices that the stranger is wearing a face mask.

“Did you get sick?”

“Yeah,” the stranger laughs, “I guess that big case stressed me out so much that once it was done I just crashed. I spent yesterday huddled in my bed.”

“Well it’s good that you’re better now.”

“Well I couldn’t disappoint my seatmate two days in a row,” the stranger says, and the corners of his eyes scrunch together in a grin. Doyoung rolls his eyes. When the stranger leaves that day, he promises Doyoung that he’ll try to get sick less.

 

 

“I can’t handle it Johnny,” Doyoung said, his head slumped over Johnny’s countertop. “He’s never home anymore because of all the business trips he has to take. What kind of law firm even sends lawyers out on so many business trips? And even when he is home, he stays at work so late that we don’t even see each other.”

“You know how he is, he becomes dedicated. He’s dedicated to you.” Johnny said, trying to slide the glass of wine away from Doyoung subtly. Doyoung’s hand whipped out and stopped him.

“It doesn’t feel like he is.” Doyoung grumbled, “how long has he even been in America? It’s felt like four fucking years or something.”

“Two months.”

“It’s too long.”

Johnny sighed, “what is this really about Doyoung?”

Doyoung was silent, spinning his wine glass idly with his fingers, “a couple of months ago, he said a different name during sex.”

Johnny inhaled sharply, “Doyoung-”

“He didn’t even notice, that’s the thing,” Doyoung said bitterly, “it was the name of that celebrity he says I look like, Moonbin? Literally no one else sees it but him. I highly doubt he’s cheating because it’s not like he would actually have an affair with fucking Moonbin. But he laughed it off and said it was because my hands were on his back so he couldn’t see my tattoo, he was extremely tired and delirious after the last case, and he had a weird sex dream about Moonbin the week before.”

“Oh,” Johnny said, “I guess it’s not that bad-”

“No it is! It’s like—it’s like without this stupid tattoo I’m a stranger to him.”

“He tells me all the time that you’re the most beautiful person in the world.”

“No he says, ‘it’s like I’m discovering the most beautiful person in the world.’ He doesn’t-he doesn’t know what I look like, he says I’m the love of his life but he couldn’t even pick me out of a line-up if I covered my hand.”

“Doyoung, you know he has-”

“Yeah, I do.” Doyoung set the wine glass down with a thunk, “and that’s why I feel so shitty; Because it’s not his fault.”

 

 

“Morning, stranger,” the stranger asks. He’s finally recovered from his illness and now the full force of his smile hits Doyoung like a freight train. “What have you been up to lately?”

“Just work. My company is thinking of sending me out to Busan to handle a problem with their parent corporation.”

“I used to travel a lot for work,” the stranger muses, “it was exciting in the beginning but it’s not all fun.”

“Yeah,” Doyoung agrees quietly.

“Well, I’ll miss you,” the stranger says casually, “who will I have random small talk with now in the morning?”

The stranger gets off at the next stop and wishes him safe travels.

 

 

They broke up over text.

Jaehyun wasn’t set to go home for another month and their phones didn’t work overseas so they could only talk through WhatsApp. Doyoung cried when he sent the message. “Jae, I’ve been feeling this for a while now and I think we really need a break. It’s nothing you did, it’s just some problems I’ve been dealing with. I hope we can still be friends and talk because you’re an amazing person I just don’t think I’m ready to have a relationship with you right now.”

He cried even more when he read Jaehyun’s response. ”Okay.”

He looked around him, tears blurring his eyes. He had a month now to pack, move out, and find a new place. There were a million things he now had to worry about but first, Doyoung allowed his heart to break.

 

 

“Morning, stranger,” the stranger smiles at Doyoung, “man, I haven’t said that in a while, I feel like it’s been forever. How was Busan?”

“It was good,” Doyoung responds, “nice to get a change of scenery.”

“I don’t know, I really like the scenery right now,” the stranger winks and Doyoung tries to stifle his smile under a scowl.

“Shut up.” That day when the stranger gets off the bus, he blows a kiss.

 

 

A week after the breakup, Johnny sat in Doyoung’s cold apartment. He was surrounded by cardboard boxes filled with Doyoung’s things, and Johnny sighed. “Doyoung, you need to get out of the house.”

“No,” Doyoung said, slumped on the couch, “let me be sad.”

“Did you already find a place?”

“Yeah my coworker Taeyong has been looking for a roommate.”

Johnny looked at a picture of Jaehyun and Doyoung that was hanging on the wall, “he’s been calling me, you know.”

“I really don’t want to talk about this.”

“He’s a mess.”

Doyoung paused, wringing his hands, “I want to cover up my tattoo.”

Johnny’s head jerked up and he looked at Doyoung in horror, “but Doyoung-”

“I know what it means,” Doyoung muttered, examining the elegant grey sparrow that spanned his hands.

“He won’t be able to recognize you-”

“Maybe that’s what I want,” Doyoung said, “I want to forget about all of this.”

 

 

“Morning, stranger,” the stranger says, patting Doyoung’s seat, “you’re dressed fancy today.”

“Lunch meeting with a client,” Doyoung says, adjusting his floral tie.

“Your tie matches your tattoo,” the stranger muses, pointing at the flowers scrawled over Doyoung’s hand.

“Yeah, I guess it does.”

“You look good.”

“Thank you.”

The stranger grinned when he gets off the bus, and waves at Doyoung through the window. Doyoung waves back.

 

 

A month after the breakup, Doyoung got his tattoo covered up. It had been a busy day, Taeyong and he were still finalizing some roommate things but he had finally finished moving all of his stuff into his new place. Doyoung didn’t like to talk about how he had stood in the threshold of his old apartment, looking at the familiar touches that made it home, for a lot longer than he wanted to.

The tattoo needle stung a little, but Doyoung wasn’t sure if the pain he felt was from the tattooing process, or the sight of the sparrow’s graceful wings being covered up by soft floral designs.

He regretted it the moment it was done.

He regretted it even more when he rushed to Johnny’s apartment to cry to him and ran right into someone in the hallway. “Woah, are you okay?” a voice asked.

Doyoung looked up in horror to see the last person he wanted to see. Jung Jaehyun stood in front of him, looking worriedly at Doyoung. “Y-yeah, I’m fine.” He wasn’t.

Jaehyun wasn’t either. His eyes were rimmed with red, his hair was a mess, he had undereye bags and his face was puffy. He was wearing a ratty old sweatshirt Doyoung hadn’t seen since college and a pair of dirty sweatpants. Jaehyun grabbed Doyoung’s hand and helped him up, glancing down at his hand. Doyoung watched as Jaehyun’s shoulders fell slightly when his eyes flickered down to his knuckles. “I’ll get out of your way,” Jaehyun muttered and rushed into the elevator.

Doyoung watched the doors close and he felt a stab of pain. “He came to see you. I told him you weren’t here.” Doyoung turned to see Taeil standing in the open door of his and Johnny’s apartment. “Are you okay?”

“He didn’t recognize me,” Doyoung said, and collapsed into Taeil’s open arms. “I was right.”

His heart broke for the second time.

 

 

“Morning, stranger.”

The bus ride to work is filled with dumb jokes and laughter from the stranger. Doyoung usually laughs along with him but never says too much.

When the stranger walks away, Doyoung feels the old pain in his heart flare up again, but everytime it happens he refuses to do anything about it, even though he knows if he does everything will be good again.

All Doyoung needs to do is introduce himself, and everything would change. He could be happy again, but he can’t bring up the courage to do so. Why? Because the stranger isn’t really a stranger at all to Doyoung. His name is Jung Jaehyun, he’s a lawyer, has prosopagnosia, and he’s the love of Doyoung’s life.

But all Doyoung is to Jaehyun is a stranger.

**Author's Note:**

> [cc: xuminghaooutsold](https://curiouscat.me/xuminghaooutsdold)   
>  [twitter: markleewyd](https://twitter.com/markleewyd)


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